STANSW Science Education News Journal 2019 2019 SEN Vol 68 Issue 3 | Seite 9

ARTICLES
Stimulus Material for depth studies, courtesy of Macquarie University (continued)
Could the eye be the window to Alzheimer’s?
Elevated levels of amyloid beta, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s, have been found in the eyes of animal
models in the early stages of the disease.
The result was one finding from two recent comprehensive studies looking at the effects of amyloid beta in cell
and mice models of Alzheimer’s, conducted by Macquarie University’s Mehdi Mirzaei, Scientific Director of the
Australian Proteome Analysis Facility’s (APAF), and his team in collaboration with Dr Vivek Gupta and other
researchers from Macquarie University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 45 million people worldwide, and there is currently no simple
diagnostic test to determine whether a person has the disease.
Recent research has suggested that Alzheimer’s also affects your eyes, although the exact details of how it
affects the eyes are unclear. “These studies demonstrate for the first time that amyloid beta is elevated in the
eyes, specifically photoreceptor cells in the retina, even in the early stages of the disease,” says Mehdi.
Such changes in the eyes could be used as an early marker of Alzheimer’s disease, he says. The studies also
provided insights into the molecular changes that occur in the retina as the amyloid beta accumulates. “Such
data can be used to better understand the mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Mehdi, “and may highlight
new targets for drug development, as well as better ways to diagnose and monitor the progression of the
disease.”
These studies are a step towards identifying changes in the retina that could lead to a specific Alzheimer’s
disease biomarker in humans. Retinal screening holds the promise of being able to detect such markers more
cheaply than brain imaging, and before the disease progresses to an advanced stage.
Read the papers: Molecular Neurobiology paper; Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience paper
Photo by Marc Schulte.
Syllabus link: Biology Module 8 Non-infectious disease
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
AND ENGINEERING
9
SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 3